


that's not my name

by SamanthaGirlScout



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2019-10-23 17:25:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17687750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamanthaGirlScout/pseuds/SamanthaGirlScout
Summary: Taako's been called a lot of things throughout his life. He's even made one of those names his own. But he's never been repeatedly called the wrong name over and over again. Especially not by multiple people.So who's this Lup person anyways?





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Taako gets called Lup, it's like a jolt to his system.

He's on his way home after a long shift at the restaurant. There's a bus stop not too far away and all he can think about is how nice it'll be to sit down for the short ride. He's standing there, waiting on the bus, when a short man walks up to him, looks him square in the eye, and says:

"Lup, why weren't you at work today?"

Taako tilts his head to the side. "Who's Lup?"

The man stares at him for some time before shaking his head. "Sorry, sir. I thought you were my co-worker Lup. You look an awful lot like her."

"Sorry, but that's not me."

"That's alright."

The bus pulls up then and Taako boards and he is conscious of the fact that the man is boarding as well. Part of him wonders if he's following him now, but this is a big enough city that he's probably just headed in the same direction.

He finds an open seat and leans his head against the pane of glass for a moment. His feet are already thanking him for the small reprieve. They had been especially short staffed today and he'd been forced to pick up their slack as well as Saazed's usual. It'd been a lot, especially without any breaks. He couldn't wait to get home to his bathtub and—

"So, what is your name?"

Taako jerks away from the window to find the man sitting across the aisle, looking at him expectantly. There were plenty of open seats all around the bus.  Why was he sitting there?

Usually Taako would ignore people like this man, but he was just so _tired_. Maybe if he gave him something he would get the hint and leave him alone… "Taako."

"Ain't that a bit too on the nose? What's your real name?"

Taako smirks. The guy is smarter than his disheveled appearance made him look. No reason not to have a little fun with it, though…

"Aren't you assuming a lot?"

The man splutters, face red, as he launches into an apology. It lasts for a whole minute before Taako takes pity on the poor soul…

But not before laughing in his face.

"It was an insult thrown at me my whole life so I thought, fuck it, and decided to own it. So much so that I legally changed my name. So, yeah, it's my real name."

That sobers the man some. "I'm sorry to hear that. Hope you got to laugh in those fucker's faces, though."

"You better believe I did." He can still remember the faces of his childhood tormentors when he reintroduced himself as such to his class. The teachers still used his old name, but it stuck from then on. So he thought, why not make it official. Add a dash of flair and Bam!

The rest of was history.

"Still gets me that you look so much like her."

"Who?"

"Lup. She's got the same face, hair, even kinda sounds like you. Pretty sure the two of you would get along, too."

Taako shrugs.

The bus comes to a stop and a crowd of kids enter, drowning out any possible conversation. They mill about and Taako finds himself losing interest in the man across the aisle as his mind drifts back to his tub waiting for him at home. By the time it's quiet again Taako notices that the other man has left. That's fine by him. 

He was getting pretty annoying anyways. 


	2. Chapter 2

The second time, Taako is pretty sure that he's going to die.

He's on the bus again. Only, this time he's standing. It's crowded, which is typical for Saturday, and seats are a hot commodity that were fresh out at least an hour ago.

Usually he would be at home for at least three more hours, but they're catering a wedding today. And, unfortunately, that means that it's all hands on deck to prepare the food and man the restaurant during normal hours. He's pretty sure that he'll be stuck at the restaurant attempting to combat the late night crowd instead of enjoying the relaxed atmosphere that comes with weddings.

But he can hope.

He's about three stops away when it happens. He's spacing out thinking about the dishes he has been perfecting at home. He's attempting to figure out what is missing from his tomato sauce when, all of a sudden, the bus jerks to a stop. And, while the vehicle stops, Taako doesn't and is readying himself to say hello to the floor below.

Or would have, if a strong arm didn't fall around his waist and keep him upright.

"Whoa there, Lup. Wouldn't want you to hurt your—" The large bear of a man stops short as Taako turns around in his arms. He's dumbfounded for a moment before a look of realization crosses his face. "You're not Lup."

"No. And while I appreciate the not making out with the ground bit, you're not really my type, buddy."

"Sorry."

The bearded man lets go immediately and Taako reaches for one of the straps above as the bus jerks forward. He almost falls into the man, but plants his feet in time to prevent that from happening. The idea of falling into another man's arms is appealing.

But he's not desperate.

"You know, you look a lot like my friend Lup."

"Apparently you're not the only one." Taako rolls his eyes.

As they come back to rest on the man before him, though, Taako takes note of the tuxedo that the other man is wearing. It looks crisp with a silver vest peeking out and a sapphire bow tie tucked into that. And, on his lapel is a boutonniere of dark blue and white roses garnished with silver jeweled accents.

He looks way too fancy to be taking a bus.

"Wait… why are you wearing a tux?"

"Oh!" He rubs the back of his neck. "My best friend is getting married today. I'm her best man so I have to get there pretty early."

"Yes, but why would you wear it on the bus? Aren't you worried about getting it dirty?"

He tilts his head to the side. "Huh. Didn't think about that. Oh well. If all else fails I'll just call Julia and ask her to bring a spare pair of pants or something."

"I don't know your friend, but you should probably be careful. From my experience, brides aren't all that forgiving if someone messes up their special day." 

The man laughs. "Yeah, you're right. Probably will need to be doubly careful then, since there are going to be two brides."

Taako blinks in surprise. He's pretty sure that one of his co-workers said something about the wedding that they're catering being for two women. What were the chances…

"Is one of their names Fangbattle?"

"Uh… Yeah. How did you know?"

"I work at Sazed's and we're catering it tonight."

"Damn. Sure is a small world." The man sticks out a hand. "Magnus, at your service."

He shakes it. "Taako. Possibly at yours later today."

Magnus laughs loudly, filling the small space with his mirth. "What do you mean possibly?"

"Sazed likes to keep us guessing." He rolls his eyes. "And, seeing as he's not closing the restaurant tonight, someone has to make sure that the place doesn’t burn down. Lord knows no one else can do that besides me."

"Well, if you do end up coming tonight, you should meet everyone! I'm sure they'd get a kick out of meeting you. In fact, if you do, your first drink's on me."

The bus comes to a much more graceful stop and Taako recognizes the restaurant's gaudy sign half a block down.

"This is my stop. If I do end up being there, I'm holding you to it, buddy. I haven't had a good drink in months now."

"Sounds like a plan!"

* * *

 

Part of Taako is disappointed when Sazed picks him to stay behind and look after everything. But, he buries that quickly. He doesn't have time to wallow when they have half of the staff that they normally do and an imposing headcount ahead of them.

It's grueling and at least one server has a breakdown when that asshole of a Governor shows up. Kalen is known for being one tough cookie. Normally he or Sazed would be his servers. But tonight Taako's forced to delegate it to someone. It goes pretty well at first, but then Kalen goes too far and chews the poor girl out for pouring his water wrong.

Usually, Taako doesn't care when people are assholes, he's a pretty big one himself. But _no one_ messes with his staff. So he takes great pleasure in kicking the man and his hoity toity entourage out onto the street before they even get to their main course.

He reflects on how Sazed will probably have something to say about it as he picks up a bottle of wine on his way home. But the satisfaction is well worth whatever he might get as punishment later. What's he going to do? Fire him?

He's pretty sure the place would burn down to the ground if he wasn't around to put out all of that man's fires.

He sits down heavily on his couch when he gets home. It's one of the few pieces of furniture that he has out in his living room. A hand-me-down from a previous roommate, Ren. She left behind a few other odds and ends when she moved out.

He's pretty sure that the only furniture that wasn't hers is his bed and dresser.

He misses her company on days like these. They weren't all that close, but the company was nice. And she kept him from overworking himself. But, he knew that she wanted to get an education half a world away even if she never said as such.

So, he pushed her away. Until, one day, she left to follow her dreams. 

Mind wandering freely now, he thinks back to the large man on the bus. He'd actually seemed genuinely interested in sharing some of his friends' special the night with him. Which is odd, considering that they're complete strangers. But, part of him knows that, if he'd actually shown up, the other man would have made good on his promise of a drink and company.

He wonders if he would have accepted.

Sighing, Taako uncorks the bottle and pours himself a glass. It's a bit silly, but no one is around to see him. So he says fuck it and raises his glass to open air and missed opportunities.

And maybe a little bit of hope for better days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support! 
> 
> This ended up growing a bit more than I expected it to. Oops? I'm pretty sure I'll expand more on what I originally hand-wrote, but the chapter-length is pretty hard and fast for this short piece. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think so far! I love reading your guy's responses. They really mean a lot as I dip my toes into writing TAZ. 
> 
> Thanks again and see you next time!


	3. Chapter 3

He has to admit. He has a bit  _too_  much fun the third go around.

It's summer and the local farmer's market is thriving. He's just finished buying the best fresh ingredients that his paycheck can buy, which is a surprising amount thanks to the sale going on, when a warm hand finds his. It's larger and a little sweaty, but not all-together unpleasant.

For a stranger's hand at least.

He's about to rip his hand from the unfamiliar grip, but a voice stops him. "C'mon, Lup." It's gravelly and a lot deeper than he'd expect from the smaller man. "You gotta stop running ahead like that. I'm going to end up losing you that way."

The man isn't unattractive by any means, but he is a bit too plain for Taako's tastes.  Which, if he's being honest, are quite refined. But, he has to admit that between the glasses and brown frumpy hair he's actually kinda cute. And, while the denim on denim would look absolutely horrible on most people he makes it work somehow.

This Lup person certainly is lucky.

He walks with the man for a few steps. He realizes that it's been a while since he's held someone's hand. It feels nice. But it also feels like he's cheating a little bit by not admitting to this poor frazzled man that he is, in fact, not his significant other.

"As much as I like the attention, my man. I don't believe that I'm the person you were looking for."

The man yelps and withdraws his hand as if he'd been burned. He looks Taako up and down before gasping. He points a finger at him and it takes an awful large amount of self-control for Taako not to be too offended.

"Are you Taako?"

"Got it in one." He laughs. "How'd you know?"

"Merle mentioned meeting a Lup look-alike on the bus about a month ago. I thought he was just trying to be funny, but it appears as though he wasn't lying."

"Was that the old dwarf or the big guy with the sideburns?"

The man guffaws. "God. Merle's going to  _hate_  it that you called him a dwarf."

"So, old guy then. Got it."

Taako watches as the man laughs even harder. It takes him a little while to get himself under control. He's pretty sure that the joke wasn't that funny, but he can't help the smirk that spreads across his face.

"Oh, man," He says once he's finally calmed down some. "Lup would love to meet you."

"At this rate I probably will, what with so many of you mistaking me for her," Taako says dryly.

A ringtone breaks through their conversation. It takes a second for Taako to recognize it, but he's pretty sure it's from an anime. The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone and… yes. That's definitely an anime phone case.

Nerd.

"Sorry, I—"

Taako waves a hand. "I need to be going anyways. See you and your crew around I guess."

The man answers the phone. Taako goes to leave by the man holds up a finger "One sec," he says into the phone as he fumbles in his other pocket. He pulls out a small pad of paper and starts writing. After a moment he rips the paper out and holds it out to Taako.

"Here. "

"What's this?"

"My number. I—"

"You know usually I get a name before a number." Taako winks.

The man splutters, cheeks red. "I-It's not! I'm hap-p-pily—!"

Taako laughs.

Hard.

The flustered man before him groans as he rubs a hand underneath the bridge of his nose. "God what am I getting myself into."

"Probably a lot of trouble."

"Apparently." He sighs. "My name is Barry. I'm giving you my number because I'm pretty sure that Lup would like to meet you sometime, but she hasn't met you yet so I'd hate to just give her number out. So I figured, if you were interested, we could chat a bit more when we're not going in different directions. And then set up a hang-out between everyone."

"I'll… think about it."

Barry nods. "I get it. No pressure. Just knew I'd regret it if I didn't. Take care, Taako."

"You, too."

"Bye!" Barry gives him a friendly wave before turning around and bringing his phone to his ear. "Sorry about that. I had to…"

And then he's lost to the crowd. 

Taako looks down at the paper. Scrawled in messy handwriting is an unfamiliar local number below the name Barry. He's pretty sure that he'll never actually text the man. He can't deny that there's a growing part of him that wants to, but what would he even do?

He'll probably never find out, though, because just as he's about to stuff the paper into his pocket a young boy knocks into him, sending the paper flying, his groceries spilling, and himself falling to the ground.

He watches it all in slow motion. He tries to catch it, but the wind steals it away and he loses sight of it amongst the trees above. Tomatoes, schallots, and potatoes roll away. And, he crashes onto his butt, lightly scraping his hands in the process of catching himself.

And a bike whizzes through the spot that he'd been standing moments before.

"I'm sorry, sir!" The boy says loudly as he scrambles over to him to check on him. "Are you hurt?"

"No." He looks down at his scraped hands. It'll be a bitch in the kitchen, but he's dealt with worse. "I'm fine. How about you, though?"

"I'm good! But, may I say that those hands don't look all that good."

Normally Taako would push him away, but all these strangers coming in and out of his life in the last few months must have desensitized him some because he allows the kid in his personal space with no problems. The kid gently inspects his hands and he shakes his head at how torn up they are. Without missing a beat, he reaches down and unzips a fanny pack around his waist. Pulling out two large band-aids, a small alcohol swab, and a package of antibiotic he offers them to Taako. "Here. I'll go get your groceries while you put those on."

He doesn't give Taako much choice because once the items are no longer in his hands he's turning around and dashing off to retrieve his groceries. Taako is left sitting on his ass, shocked, and unmoving. All he can do is watch as the kid collects everything save for a squashed tomato. He shakes himself out of it and stands as the boy returns and starts putting his groceries back in the, miraculously untouched, bag.

"I'm sorry, again, sir. There was a bike coming by and you weren't looking so I had to—"

"It's okay, kid." He takes one last forlorn look at the trees before turning back to the kid. "I guess I should actually be thanking you, though. A beaten up tomato is better than a beaten up Taako."

The boy blinks. "Is that your name?"

He braces himself. "Sure is."

"That's so cool! Mine is Agnus!" He gives him a bright smile as finishes returning his vegetables to the bag. "It's nice to meet you, sir!"

"Angus?" A voice shouts above the crowd. "Angus, where are you?"

"Over here, dad!" He turns around and waves. At first Taako doesn't see any one and then—

One of the most handsome men, aside from himself, appeared to be making his way through the crowd in  _his_  direction.

It should be a crime to look so crisp in a pink button down shirt, black slacks, and shoes so shiny that he could see his own face in them. But no. Here this man was, a free man no less, and the literal definition of tall, dark, and handsome as hell.

"There you are!" The man kneels down to be down on Angus' height. "How many times do I have to tell you not to run off on me?"

"Sorry. There was a bike coming and I could tell that Mr. Taako here wasn't going to see it in time so I had to come over and make sure that he wouldn't get hurt."

The man groans. "That's very brave of you, but you have to be careful. I thought I had lost you."

"I know…" Angus looks down. "I'll make sure to tell you where I'm going next time."

Taako can tell that the man is quite exasperated, but the smile he gives is genuine despite that. He reaches forward and gives his son a hug. "I'd prefer there not be a 'next time', but I suppose I'll have to settle for that for now."

He stands, hand still on Angus' shoulder, and when he turns in Taako's direction, he's pretty sure that a lesser man would have melted on the spot.

"Are you alright?"

"P-Peachy."

Taako could slap himself for stuttering. Who was he? That Barry guy?

The man glances down at Taako's hands. "Are your hands okay?"

"Um…"

Taako looks down at them and fully registers the blood that was appearing in the scrapes, staining the unopened supplies Angus had given him.

Oops.

"Here, let me see them." The man reaches forward and takes Taako's hands in his own. Taako looks down at them as well and notices that they're starting to bleed a little bit where he had been unconsciously crushing the first aid supplies that Angus had given him. He looks up and finds the man frowning. "There's a bench over here, let me help you get these cleaned up."

"I'll get the groceries, sir."

Taako really wants to refuse, but he can't find the energy to. So, without much prodding on this handsome stranger's part, he's led over to a bench on the edge of the park near the market. It's a lot less crowded and offers a bit more privacy.

"Here," Angus says as he hands his father a pair of gloves retrieved from his fanny pack as well.

The man puts them on with practiced ease (Jesus was this guy a doctor or something?!) and reaches out for Taako's hands. He pauses and looks to Taako, "May I?"

"Sure, my dude."

He reaches out and takes his hands in his and they're… surprisingly gentle. And cold. He'll blame the chills he's experiencing on this man's cold doctor hands. 

Speaking of which…

"You know, usually I get a name before someone holds my hand."

Baring that Barry guy, anyways.

The man pauses in his careful scrutiny to look at him, abashed. "Sorry. The name's Kravitz."

"Nice to meet you."

"You as well." This Kravitz fellow smiles.

"Is it okay if I go over and look at the stand over there?" Angus pipes up. He looks… almost mischievious and Taako isn't sure how to take that.

Kravitz weighs the idea of his son going off again. "Please leave your fanny pack here, I feel as though I'll need the gauze in it. "

"Yay! Just come get me when you're ready to head out," Angus says with a wink. 

"And stay in—"

And then he's gone.

"That boy," Kravitz sighs. "Don't mind him. He's been trying to set me up with someone for a while now."

"Oh?" He winces as the man cleans his wound with a alcohol wipe.

"Sorry." Kravitz pauses, presumably to give Taako a moment to recover from the stinging in his hand. After a few moments he returns to the task at hand. "And yes. I overheard him talking to our neighbor, Killian, about it. Apparently it's his year-end goal."

"That's quite the goal."

"Yes it is," he laughs. "I don't have the heart to tell him that it's not that simple."

"I mean..."

Taako clamps his mouth shut and looks anywhere but at the near stranger before him.

Usually he has more control over his speech. And doesn't say more than two words to complete strangers and minds his own business when not at work. He also usually doesn't have any interest in dating a man with a kid.

But, if he was being honest, he was getting pretty tired of his usual routine.

"If you were interested I would like to pay you back for helping me. Maybe take you out to a local café or something? I know the barista at  _Vin et Poterie_. She makes the best tea and dirty bean water you could ever imagine."

Taako is pretty sure that the offer is a shot in the dark from the way that the man focuses back on his hands while bandaging them with gauze. Part of him wants to take the offer back with a joke, but it isn't one.

Not really.

Kravitz gently tapes the bandages and Taako expects him to take his hands away. To let go. But, instead, he keeps a gentle hold on them. Taako looks down and can't help but admit that out of the strangers' hands that have held his own today, he much prefers these.

"Dirty bean water, eh?"

"Yeah," Taako laughs as he meets Kravitz's dark brown eyes. "I'm not much of a coffee drinker myself, but all of her customers are always raving about it."

Kravitz nods. "I suppose I didn't really have anything else important to do with the rest of my day."

Taako feels an excited fluttering in his stomach as the man holding his hands smiles at him.

Score.

"I'll have to drop Angus off with our neighbors, but I imagine you have to drop off your groceries at home as well?"

Taako looks down at the groceries. They were just vegetables and fruits… "None that need to be refrigerated right away."

"Well." Kravitz laughs. "Then I guess we can drop Angus off together and then go off to enjoy some tea and dirty bean water."

"Sounds like a date."

And then they were off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok. So this was SUPPOSED to be just the Barry part. But then Angus just HAD to run into him. Am I blaming a ten-year-old character for my inability to say no to Taakitz?
> 
> Maybe. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! This little fic won't actually focus too much on Taakitz, but if y'all want some more scenes between them in this little universe, let me know. Once I'm finished I might just write a side story about how they get together... but we'll see. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think! 
> 
> See you next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

He's not sure if he can actually count the fourth time or not.

Taako's supposed to be working as kitchen lead tonight. But something got stuck up his boss' ass and he's currently stuck bussing tables instead. It's as if he isn't a seasoned worker who has been slowly climbing up the ladder, gaining more and more responsibility.

It's insulting, really.

If he ever wants to become head chef here he'll probably have to pry the restaurant from Sazed's cold dead hands. And, as his mind numbs with each dish he picks up, he considers possibly arranging something like that. Taako's pretty sure that at least half of the staff wouldn't mind helping out. Especially if it meant that the bane of their existence was gone—

"Hey T!" Joaquin says, breaking up his toxic thoughts. His tray is empty and he seems to be waiting a few moments before going to the kitchen again. Smart guy.

"What's up my man?"

"I've got someone asking for you, actually." He looks off a bit confused. Unsurprisingly, as no one usually came by asking for Taako. "Were you expecting someone?"

Taako's face flushes a bit.  "No…"

Showing up unannounced doesn't exactly seem like Kravitz's style. Especially since they haven't exactly made it past the third date. But, if he Taako is completely honest with himself, he isn't exactly opposed to the idea of his… Of Kravitz showing up at his work.

It would certainly help brighten up his day if he did.

"Cool," Taako says, trying to appear as such and probably failing miserably. "Where's he at?"

"Over at the corner booth by the restroom."

Taako nods. "Perfect excuse. If Sazed misses me, I went to the restroom."

He doesn't wait for Joaquin to respond before he hefts his half-full tub of dishes on his shoulder and makes his way over there. There is a nook on his way over that he stashes it, he has to keep up appearances for clients and Kravitz, you know?

It takes everything in him to not break into a goofy smile as he walked closer and closer to the booth.

Once he arrives at the table, though, he's sorely disappointed. Instead of his tall, dark, and handsome boyfriend, he is met with a red-headed man with a ridiculous mustache and a faded captain's hat.

He pushes down the soured disappointment in his mouth and plasters on his customer-service smile.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Ah yes," the man says, his voice a bit gruff. "I happened to see you walk by earlier and I wanted to introduce myself. I'm Davenport."

"I'm taken," Taako says, flat. It might not be entirely true, but he's resigned himself to the fact that he wants it to be some day. He crosses his arms over his chest and doesn't even try to hide his annoyance as he glares at Davenport's outstretched hand.

The man blinks, but otherwise seems unfazed. "Oh, well so am I. I meant that I'd heard of you from Merle, Magnus and Ba—"

"What is it with you people and stalking me? Can't go _anywhere_ without one of you showing your face it seems."

Davenport frowns at that. " If we are bothering you, I can inform the others. It's just that, Lup has expressed that she'd be interested in meeting you so I thought I might extend that invitation."

He picks up his receipt up off the table and makes to leave. "But, if we've been bothering you then I'll tell everyone else to do their best to leave you alone." He stands. "I hope you have a good day."

Davenport starts to walk away.

Every step that he takes sends Taako's stomach dropping into his shoes. What if this Lup person _is_ his sister? Sure, he's run into these people over and over. But what if this is his last chance to find out?

It makes him nervous, but he's pretty sure it'd bother him if he never found out for sure.

"No." Taako groans as he drags a hand down his face as he moves to follow Davenport. "No, wait." 

Davenport stops and waits for Taako to continue.

"I think… I think I'd like to meet her, too? Things are usually pretty hectic because of my job, but maybe we can make something work?" Taako is pretty sure he's babbling now, but, thankfully, the other man doesn't comment.

"If you'd like to, I'm sure she'd love to. I believe that Barry mentioned he'd given you his number?"

"A-About that." Taako looks away. "I lost it."

Davenport laughs. "Why am I not surprised."

"How about this: you give me your number and I'll pass it along to her? Then the two of you can decide if you want to meet or not."

"Works for me." Taako takes a look around, searching for a pen and paper.

"Here." The much shorter man reaches into his pocket and pulls out a scrap of paper and a pen.

"Thanks," Taako takes them and scrawls out his name and number in the best version of his atrocious handwriting.

He hopes it's legible enough to read.

"Alright. I'll be sure to give this to her. I'll maybe see you around?"

Taako nods. "Yeah. See you around Cap'n'port. "

The moment the nickname is out of his mouth, Taako goes to backpedal, but Davenport is laughing uproariously. "Lup—"

 The laughing draws more attention than Taako had hoped for and Sazed's annoying voice overpowers whatever Davenport may have been saying.

"Taako! Get your ass back to work!"

Davenport frowns. "Is that your boss?"

Taako looks behind himself and sees Sazed barreling towards him. If anyone is going to maintain their dignity, especially the restaurant itself, he's going to need to scramble.

Taako nods. "Sorry, gotta go. Bye!"

He scurries away before Davenport can say anything more. He can feel Sazed's eyes on him the rest of the night. It's uncomfortable and annoying and he wishes that Sazed would go back to the kitchen and just do his _damn job_.

Maybe he should look for a new job.


	5. Chapter 5

The fifth time hurts a bit. 

It's been over a month and Taako has yet to hear from this Lup girl. 

He shouldn’t be all that disappointed. There was also a part of him that understood all of the logical reasons why. They didn't even know if they were really related.  They were effectively strangers. And, if they weren’t actually related. Then, there was no real reason for them to include each other in their own lives. 

It's just... there's another part of him, a small part mind you, that's almost worried. Did something happen to her? Did she second guess all of this? 

Is he not worth her time?

No matter how much he's tried to reign in his hope, it had grown ever since that first old man first mistook him for this Lup girl. And while he has gotten used to forgetting about his childhood hopes to find his family (a family, really). The thought that he isn't completely alone in this world has rooted itself deep in his heart and refuses to let go, despite his doubts and attempts to get rid of it. 

Waiting it out takes a lot out of him, though. And Taako was already tired from his job all of the time. So he does his best to forget about all of it.

Kravitz and his son, Angus, fill a lot of his time, which helps. A lot. 

If Taako is being honest, involving himself with someone who has a child scared him quite a bit at first. He's more of the free-spirit type. And he didn't usually do the whole kids... thing. 

Much to Taako's surprise, though, Angus is easy to get along with. 

It helps that the kid is smart. And not even just book smart, which he very much is, he is also, oddly enough, quite street smart. He's always looking into mysteries and his ability to suss out a situation could be downright terrifying if the kid wasn't also kind of cute. 

And, to top it all off, he only got annoying when Taako was tired. Which, all things considered, isn't because Angus was actually annoying. It's not like the kid can help Sazed's worsening attitude or something.

And Kravitz...

Kravitz is a godsend. 

Granted, their first date alone had been pretty... awkward to say the least. Not like he could really blame the guy. He loves his kid with all of his heart. It was only natural that he had to make sure Taako wasn't going to just waltz in and out of their lives leaving a brokenhearted kid behind. It's something that Taako respected immensely that night and can't help but admire more and more as the days go by.

Once he knew that Taako wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, though, he warmed almost immediately. Now he gushes about the things he loves (mostly Angus). And, to top it all off, he isn't afraid to give Taako the best hugs that he's  _ ever _ received. 

Best part was that they didn't have to do the whole song and dance thing that usually came with dating someone. No awkward kiss after the third date. No posturing to appear to be so much cooler than either of them really were. Since Kravitz and Angus are a packaged deal, skipping to just chilling at the McDonald house just... made sense. And felt so much more natural than any sort of dating formula that Taako used to follow.

They did go on a fancy date or two. But it was probably going to be an infrequent thing. Which would make them special. And Taako adores the idea of planning a special night instead of worrying about if he can afford lavish dates. Not that he wouldn't take Kravitz on as many wonderful dates as he could. There just wasn't any rush.

Today, though,Taako is out and about with Angus. 

Kravitz had mentioned needing to find a baby sitter for the kid so that he could go to an event or something for his job. He'd also mentioned how he'd love it if the two of them bonded on their own. Now, Taako isn't a genius, but sometimes he comes up with baller ideas. And, the idea of killing two birds with one stone was almost too easy to come up with. 

Kravitz was ecstatic when he mentioned it to him

Taako had been so proud of himself for coming up with the idea. But, now that he's out with Angus, by himself. It scares him a bit (a lot) to be wholly responsible for another person's well-being. Also, impressing this kid seems super impossible.  

But, in the end, it's surprisingly easy, all things considered. 

All of the places they visit are places that Taako normally wouldn't go to by himself: the park by the lake, a local cafe, and the library. Taako'd had no idea how to entertain a kid, so he'd asked Angus to take him to all of his favorite places. And the kid had delivered, quite enthusiastically. And, while they're all in wildly different places in the city, he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed. Despite how much his feet hurt from the day before... 

The kid's excitement is far too infectious for its own good. 

They're in the library now. Angus can't stop talking about the latest book that he wants to read. He looks around as he gestures wildly. And while Taako can only follow along so far, he’d have to read one of these books to really get what this kid was saying, it's still pretty adorable to see how excited it makes him 

After a while, Angus turns to Taako, smile wide. "I have to show you a book, sir!"

Taako tries to tell him that he can drop the sir shtick, but Angus is suddenly pulling him towards the back of the library with more force than he’d expected from such a small child. He can't help but notice that, while the kid is still talking excitedly about this book, his posture is stiff and there’s an urgency in his steps that wasn’t there before. It's quite suspicious.

Once they're in a secluded part of the library, Angus picks up a book at random. Then, under his breath, he says: 

"Someone is following you, sir." 

Taako goes to check for himself, but Angus shoves the book into his hands and mimics pointing something out on the page. Taako look down at pictures of plants, unfocused on the page. 

"Don't be so obvious," the boy chastises. As if he's done this before. Which, he probably has, from what Kravitz has said about his sleuthing escapades.  

"Who is it?" Taako asks. He pretends to be interested in what's on the page. Something about poisonous plants, he half notices a picture of _bella_ _donna_ in the corner. 

"I've never seen her before. But, she's been following us at least from the cafe. 

Which had been two hours ago, half of which they’d spent riding a bus from the other side of town.

Taako turns to Angus, was this kid nuts?

"Why didn't you say something earlier?!"

Angus shushes him and mimes pointing to another picture,  _bell flower._

"I wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or not until she followed us into the library." Angus looks up and nods. "You can look now, sir." 

Taako follows Angus' gaze and find a woman pretending to be overly interested in a book. There's a shock of white hair on her head (he'd kill for a dye job that good) and her clothes are conservative in a way Taako could never wear, but this woman pulls off really well. Maybe a business professional?

"Sir." 

Taako turns. "Yeah, Ango?" 

"I think I can cause a distraction if you want to make a break for it." 

Taako's blood runs cold. 

Was this kid suggesting that he just leave him here?!

Ok, he's definitely going to have a discussion with Kravitz about allowing Angus to read any more detective books. Didn't matter that the kid wasn't technically his, he really didn't like that his first response to a would-be stalker was to run interference for him, the adult, leaving him,  _ the child _ , vulnerable to bring abducted. 

"We're not chancing a kidnapping today, _kid_." 

"I can take care of myself! Besides, she's not paying any attention to me. She's only been watching you the whole time, sir" 

Taako frowns. If that's the case... 

The likelihood that she's a part of that weird-ass group of people that he keeps running into seems pretty likely the longer he thinks about it. 

Well, if she wasn't going to seek him out, then it's on him, he supposes.

Better to get it out of the way so that he and Angus can get back to hanging out.

"Yeah, well Taako can take care of himself, too."

He doesn't give Angus any warning before he walks over to the odd woman. 

"Can I help you?" He asks once he's nearby. 

This straightforwardness throws her for a loop. She looks to be the type to not be easily flustered. But she's obviously never met Taako before so... 

She clears her throat and composes herself in record time. 

He'd have been impressed if she hadn't been stalking him all day. 

"I'm not sure we should really do this now," she says, looking at Angus, pointedly.

"Pretty sure the kid can handle hearing about whatever beef you have with me. Right?" 

Angus nods.

The woman sighs. "Alright. I wanted to handle this with delicacy, but if you insist..." 

Taako raises an eyebrow, inviting her to continue. 

This ought to be good. 

Giving up all pretense of pretending, she shuts the book in her hand and places it carefully back on the bookshelf. She takes a deep breath and turns to Taako anger burning coolly in her eyes.

"I have to admit. I thought better of you. Did you know that Barry's actually been planning to propose to you? Do you even care about his feelings, Lup?" 

Hachi Machi.

It takes everything in Taako not to laugh in this lady's face. He can feel a stitch in his side form from the effort, but valiantly keeps his composure. Mostly. 

"And all of your friends!" She continues. " Did you even stop to think about how your... your adultery would look to them? No one is going to side with you on this!" 

She takes a deep breath and collects herself. She hadn't yelled, but her composure had broken. 

"Did you... Did you even think of how I would feel?" Her voice breaks on that last one. 

He really should stop her before she goes much further. He can't fully empathize with what she's going through, but he does feel some semblance of pity. Also it’d probably be a dick move to ruin this Lup girl’s life without reason.

And he doesn't need boy-wonder here getting any wrong ideas.

"I think you've got the wrong tall, blonde, good-looking person here, lady," he says, not unkindly. 

Her brown eyes narrow, but he cuts her off before she can ingest any more of her foot via her open mouth. 

"When was the last time you talked to... what'd you say his name was? Barry?" 

"Last week." 

"He ever mention meeting a Lup-look-a-like named, Taako a couple months back?" 

Her face scrunches up. "No... Lup. I really don't think—" 

"Give him a call." 

"Lup. If you just promise to break things off with that man and promise not to meet up with him again, then I won't—" 

"Call him." 

The woman sighs. She pulls out her phone and presumably makes a call. 

"It's your funeral, Lup." 

"Pretty sure you're the one that's going to be embarrassed to death here, but go off I guess." 

Taako looks over to Angus. He's furiously taking down notes. Great. He really hopes the kid is objective with his note-taking. 

"Yes. Hello, Barry?" She starts. "Yes, I'm okay. I was just calling to see if you couldn't help me debunk something. See, I have Lup here, pretending—" 

The woman's eyebrows knit together. 

"What do you—" She turns to Taako. She looks him up and down.Trying to make sense of him and whatever Barry must be telling her. 

Then, mortification settles on her face. 

Bingo.

"Oh. I see." 

Taako can't help but burst out laughing. He laughs so hard that his sides start hurting again and everyone stares at them. 

"Well, tha—" He can see the embarrassment morph into annoyance. "Yeah. Yeah he is." 

She rolls her eyes as she extends her phone to him. "Here." 

"What?" He asks, staring at the proffered phone. 

"Just take it," she says. 

He does. 

Then, a voice that sounds familiar, but not too familiar speaks. 

"Hey, we've _really_ gotta work on this whole phone number thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! Thanks so much for reading! Sorry this has taken so long to update. Lucretia's chapter just gave me all sorts of fits, and I've been working on some original stuff. That's been sucking a lot of my time, but I've got a rough draft for a novel done so there's that! 
> 
> Anyways, I can't promise when the next chapter will come out, I'm still trying to figure out how best to wrap this all up, if I'm being honest. But! This will for sure be finished eventually. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks so much for the support and see you in the next one!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think of this first chapter! I wrote this in a bit of a flurry so I'll be taking some time editing before I post the rest.


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